Your water bill could increase $265 a year under proposed EPA rule, Philly water department says

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Philadelphia Water Department says new river water standards could cost it $3 billion.



Philly Inquirer link: https://www.inquirer.com/business/philadelphia-water-rates-bills-epa-delaware-river-20240219.html

The Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) says that a proposed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule to increase a clean water standard in the Delaware River would cost it $3 billion to comply — a cost customers would bear.

“Without significant financial support from the state or federal government, that cost will be passed on to customers in Philadelphia’s neighborhoods through higher water bills for years to come,” PWD said in a statement issued Sunday, just days before public comments close on the federal proposal.

It estimates that the proposed regulations would cost customers an additional $22.17 per month on their water bills, not $1.50 per month as calculated by EPA. That comes out to about $265 a year, PWD said in the statement.

PWD serves over 2 million people in Philadelphia, Montgomery, Delaware, and Bucks Counties by drawing water from the Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers and cleaning it to EPA drinking water standards.

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